Woman CrossFits While 9 Months Pregnant, Slams Haters

Emily Breeze Ross Watson is a former Division 1 athlete who has kept herself in top shape since—she's even come close to breaking CrossFit records...and she's doing it while she's full-term pregnant.

The mother-to-be has continued CrossFit-ing throughout the entire duration of her pregnancy (even days after her due date has passed). It clearly takes a remarkable amount of strength, determination and discipline to continue doing tough workouts throughout a pregnancy...but not everyone seems to be in favor of what this woman is doing.

"Honestly, people have taken it to such extremes," the 31-year-old told TODAY of the public's reactions to her intense fitness regimen. "The craziest thing I've experienced is a lot of males' [criticisms]. And the last time I checked, there were not a lot of males carrying babies... And a lot of young people who are 22 and under; I think that's the kind of people that spend time trolling on there anyways, and don't have much else to do."

The athlete has a large presence on social media, where she posts inspirational photos of herself working out—she never intended to cause controversy and she's certainly not the only person who assures critics that CrossFit-ing while pregnant is perfectly safe.

"I wanted to present fitness and wellness to my community, to my friends and my clients," she said. "It's caused a buzz and traveled across the world. And I'm happy for that, because I want fitness to be on a platform for folks. And I want fitness to be accessible. And I want women to feel empowered."

Ross Watson has been a CrossFit enthusiast since 2012. The natural athlete lettered in both track and basketball in college and CrossFit's intense nature appealed to her immediately.

"[CrossFit] pushes you to find new limits and break down barriers that maybe you had built up in your mind, things that you didn't think you could accomplish," she said. "But you're able to put in that hard work and you're able to see results. I really love the intensity of it."

Ross Watson and her husband planned to have a baby this spring—had this happened, she would have competed in the CrossFit games this coming July. "Obviously, my baby's late right now, so, I'm not going to be able to do that [this year]," she said. Still, Ross Watson doesn't see her pregnancy as something that holds her back. "There were no fears. I've been with my same OB-GYN for over 11 years, and he's known me in every stage of my athletic career. So, he always assured me that pregnancy is not a disease, not an illness. It's also not one prescription for everybody. You have to listen to your body and let your body do what it's comfortable doing. And, most likely, it will allow you to do so, because that's what it's always known," she said. "Yeah, there's days when I scale things down or I modify movement, that type of thing," she said. "But compared to the rest of the world, it seems like I'm crazy or the most extreme. Whatever."